With words of wisdom hailing from journalist Bill Moyers and valedictorian Aly Jeddy '93, 1,030 members of the Class of 1993 were awarded degrees at the 223rd Commencement Exercises June 13.
The keynote address, given by Moyers, focused on the difficulties graduates will face after leaving college and entering the "uncharted territory."
"It's no utopia we've prepared to receive you from the bosom of Dartmouth," he said. "This world is hard on believers."
Moyers described the world facing graduates as "a world of unscripted contradictions, where economies go bad, social fabrics unravel, and lovers perish in no man's land," and urged graduates to think about their own "lifelong response to the simultaneity of beauty and bestiality in the news, the dissonance in our culture, and the conflicts of your own soul."
The veteran journalist proposed that people must all work together in society, striking "ethical bargains" with each other to create a community that is not a war of all against all.
"I hope most of all that they have taught you here at Dartmouth that civilization is an unnatural act," he said. "It doesn't just happen. It's something we do together; it's something we make happen."
Jeddy's powerful valedictory address called upon classmates to be idealists. "How can we sit in the midst of all these voices and yet remain silent? How can we sit back and not do anything? How can we not dream? How can we not be idealists?"
"[I] hope that as we lead our lives, we will be guided by one of the most crucial lessons of a liberal arts education: that ideas and philosophies are dreams only until the courage to execute them is wanting: when the flood of a Martin Luther King or a Thurgood Marshall carries them on its waves, the strongest of rocks in their path must give way."
Following the presentation of the diplomas, Freedman, in his address to the seniors, also stressed that graduates should seek a life of service to others to meet the demands of life.
"By serving others, and doing so with humane respect, we touch their lives and, thus, leave a legacy for the future -- a legacy that may be passed on, in turn, to still further generations," he said. "And that is as much permanence as one can hope to achieve in this world."
Freedman, like Moyers, stated that being an idealist is a demanding challenge, but that "the best of idealists are engaged, pragmatic, and effective." He urged graduates to care deeply about an ideal, whatever it may be.
Classmates, faculty and visitors honored graduating senior Peter Kuechle '93 with a standing ovation when he walked to the podium to receive his diploma. Earlier this April, Kuechle was injured in a rugby accident that left him paralyzed.
On behalf of the College, Freedman and Provost John Strohbehn awarded seven honorary degrees.
Poet Seamus Heaney was awarded the degree of Doctor of Letters for the eleven volumes of poetry which he wrote concerning the strife of his native country, Ireland. Heany is Professor of Poetry at Oxford University in England.
A degree of Doctor of Laws was awarded to George Munroe '43, former Boston Celtics player, Rhodes Scholar at Oxford, and retired chairman of the Phelps Dodge Corporation. The degree was awarded for his leadership capacities, which also include a position as a justice at the war-crime trials in Nuremburg.
Sophia Bracy Harris was awarded the degree of Doctor of Humane Letters for her efforts to aid impoverished women and women in need of child care.
Hispanic novelist Carlos Fuentes was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters for his "distinguished contributions to literature and to our understanding of the Hispanic past," Freedman said. Fuentes also served as a Montgomery Fellow at the College in 1981 and 1986.
President of Cornell University Frank H. T. Rhodes was awarded the degree of Doctor of Laws for his efforts in research, technology, diversity and academic excellence.
Maxine Frank Singer, a leading geneticist and President of the Carnegie Institute in Washington, D.C., was awarded the degree of Doctor of Science for achievements in the advancement of science.
Moyers was awarded a Doctor of Humane Letters for his career in public service and journalism, and his "thoughtful examination of a breadth of compelling issues," Freedman said.
Degrees were also awarded to 107 arts and sciences graduate students; 61 graduates of the Dartmouth Medical School; 82 undergraduate and graduate students of the Thayer Engineering School; and 159 Masters in Business Administration degrees to graduates of the Tuck School of Business.
